"What are you?"

Nara winced as the servant rounded on her.  He kept a cautious distance, but his exasperation was clear.

"What is he—she?" Won Soo demanded, turning to his master instead.  "A thief?  A witch?  A ghost?  A man?  A woman?"

"Her name is Kim Nara," Young Min supplied, since Nara herself was too busy trying to pretend that she didn't exist.  Her sudden burst of energy from earlier had left her physically and emotionally drained.  It had been a mistake to show up at the performance—in doing so, she had only drawn attention to herself.  Now it would only be a matter of time before the news of her appearance reached her village back home.

But the servant and the nobleman didn't seem to be concerned with her situation at present, as Won Soo had now come upon a new revelation.

"You knew?" Won Soo asked incredulously.  "You knew she was a—a she?  And you didn't tell me?"  The blood drained from his face as he thought back on the past few days.  "You two—you shared a horse!"  He made it sound as though Young Min and Nara had spat upon every one of their ancestors and then dumped a bucket of slop on the king.

But Won Soo wasn't quite finished.  "And what exactly," the servant growled at his master, "were you thinking back there when you stood up in the middle of that song?  Surely Minister Park raised his son with a sense of self-preservation!"

Nara might have laughed at the servant's indignation had she not been so worried about her own situation.  Her silence did not go unnoticed for long, as Young Min's gaze left Won Soo and fell upon her instead.  Nara's breath stuck in her throat and she shuffled farther up against the rough boulder behind her.  Her hands pressed against the cold, uneven surface, unconsciously seeking an escape as Young Min approached.

"Would you like to tell us what happened back there?" Young Min asked.  Surprisingly, his tone was soft, with no hint of anger—though Nara wasn't sure if she would have preferred yelling.  With the nobleman so near, looking at her without a hint of the malice she was used to facing, she was tempted to share her secret.  But she couldn't!  It could mean succumbing to her old fate, and she would not go back.

But he seems kind, she debated, and he might side with you after all...

And if she was wrong in her judgment?  It was a chance she could not afford to take.

"Kim Nara?"

It was only Young Min's hand on her shoulder that broke her from her whirlwind of thoughts, and Nara realized that at some point she had forgotten to breathe.  She made up for it then, in a large, gasping breath, and then collapsed to the forest floor in a shaky heap.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nara could see Young Min crouch down beside her, watching her carefully.  He said nothing, but waited patiently until she could reply.

"I'm sorry," Nara whispered.  "You seem like a nice person, but you...I..."  Tears blurred her vision, and she hid her face in the crook of her elbow.  A moment passed, and she felt Young Min's light touch on her shoulder again.

"It's all right," Young Min assured her.  "But those men recognized you.  And they seemed to be under the impression that you were quite dead."

"Is she?" Won Soo asked, a bit timidly, standing apart from them a safe distance.  Both Nara and Young Min sent him a glare.

"No!" Young Min replied, exasperated.

"Oh."  Won Soo covered his embarrassment by suddenly finding a very stubborn speck of dirt on his sleeve.  "Well, good."

Nara licked her dry lips before finally speaking.  "I...might have left my village with the impression that I had drowned in the nearby river," she said timidly.  "So I suppose it might have come as a shock for the performers to see me here today."

"You faked your death?" Won Soo asked, taking a curious step closer.  "How?"

"I tossed a hair ribbon and one of my shoes into the rushing current," Nara explained.  "There was a chance they would be found downstream, caught in a fisherman's nets."

"And that's how you were able to run away," Young Min concluded.  "From whatever it is you don't wish to tell us."

Nara felt as though she had suddenly swallowed too big a bite of sticky rice, and could only nod around the lump in her throat.

Young Min's comforting hand on her shoulder left as he rose to his feet and turned to his servant.

"Well, none of us can afford to stay here anymore, since we've been found out," Young Min said.  "Won Soo, would it be possible for you to sneak back into the village and retrieve our horses and belongings?

Won Soo bowed respectfully.  "Yes, young master.  But what if the thieves follow us to Miryang?"

Young Min pursed his lips.  "We'll have to be careful."  He turned to Nara.  "You should come with us."

Nara was shaking her head before he had even finished the sentence.  "I couldn't," she said.  "And you shouldn't leave yet, anyway, at least not until, um..."

Young Min raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish her sentence.  "Until?"

Won Soo had suddenly grown very still, and was staring at Nara with a look of mixed fear and outrage.

"...until the curse is broken," Nara muttered.

"I knew it!"  Won Soo was lunging towards Nara, hands readying to strangle her.  "You cursed my master, you lying witch!"

Nara was scrambling backward, cutting her hands on small twigs and sharp stones that got in her way.  "I-I d-didn't..."

"Stop, stop!  Stop this instant!" Young Min shouted, struggling to restrain his servant.  "Listen to me, Won Soo.  I'm fine.  I'm okay."

Won Soo stopped and turned to face his master.  "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"The pain has gone, much like this morning," Young Min told him.  "I think it's getting better.  It must be."

At first Nara wondered if he was just saying that to placate the bellicose man, but the young nobleman's face was in earnest, and he had after all run rather quickly to escape from the mob earlier.

"Nevertheless," Young Min continued, turning back to Nara, "I am rather curious as to why you keep going on about a curse.  I've already told you—there is no such thing.  But then that strange woman also seemed to know something."

"I wish I could give you proof," Nara said.  "I wish there was a way for me to make you believe.  But if I tell you, I fear my words may be taken as the ravings of a madwoman."

"Better than a witch," she heard Won Soo mutter.

"Perhaps some truth can be found in the story, though," Young Min proposed, pointedly ignoring his servant's comment.

"And if there isn't?" Nara asked.

Young Min thought for a moment.  "Then I will accept it as an entertaining story and continue on to Miryang with my original intentions of seeking a cure there."

Left with no other options, Nara told him.  She started with the ambush of the merchants on the road to the mountain village, and what had transpired after Young Min had left her tied to a tree.  She described the frightening mien of the mountain spirit who had come to feast on the dead, and what the vulpine creature had said about Young Min's affliction.  Then Nara talked about meeting the woman again the next morning, and the deal they had struck.

"So you see," Nara concluded.  "It's all in your best interests to stay, really."

"It doesn't make sense," Won Soo growled suspiciously.  "Why would you want to help him?  You hardly even know him!"

"Because I can see that he's a good person," Nara said softly.  She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks and turned away as she added, "He helped defend the merchants who would have been killed otherwise.  He protected those who could not defend themselves."

"I fear you give me more credit than I am due," Young Min said after a moment.  "I merely happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Anyone else would have done just as much."

"Oh, but they wouldn't have," Nara protested, turning back to face him.  "I've seen it before—the cowardice of men in the face of power.  It takes a good heart and a good deal of bravery to stand up against that."

There was silence, and Nara realized she had said too much.  She scrambled to her feet, then, swaying as dark spots rushed before her vision.

"You must think me crazy, and I do not blame you," she continued.  "So I suppose this is where we part ways.  I wish you both well."

She gave a hurried bow and turned to rush off—to where, she did not know at the moment, only she knew she at least had to put some distance between herself and the nobleman.  Trees and bushes blurred in her vision as she ran, stumbling over roots and stones that got in her way.  Finally stopping, she found herself on the mountain trail—the one at the other end of the village that would lead down to Miryang, and past that, to her destination of Busan.

"Don't think of him any more," Nara whispered to herself, fixing the pack on her shoulders and looking down the road ahead.  "You've done all you can.  The spirit promised she'd help, anyway, so just stay out of it."

Her talk made her feel slightly better about leaving, and so Nara started down the path, wiping the errant moisture from her eyes.  A new life awaited her, and it would surely be brighter than the one she was leaving behind.  She had come so far—she wouldn't let a stranger's troubles and her attachment get in the way of her destination now.

Time passed slowly, and the dust from the road was hot and dry and clogged her throat.  It was only a few minutes before Nara gave in and sat down to rest by a small stream in the forest a small distance from the road, pooling the water in her hands and drinking greedily to quench her thirst.  Slipping off her pack, Nara rubbed at her sore muscles and splashed more water to clean her face and neck.  By the time she finished tying up her hair, she felt ready to start her journey again, even as thoughts of Young Min surged to her mind, tempting her to turn back.

A crack of a branch warned her of the men's approaches before she saw them.  Three men—not the ones who had been following Young Min earlier—stepped through the foliage.  Nara forced herself to remain calm, but her quickened pulse and clammy palms betrayed her anxiety.  Perhaps, Nara hoped, they just wish for a drink as well.

"Well, well, well," one of the men said upon seeing her.  "If it isn't the soybean farmer's daughter.  Kim Nara, is it?"

Nara felt her face pale, and she braced herself to run.  So much for a harmless drink of water, then.

"And not dead at all, as some stories say," another one piped up.  "But that wasn't the version we were told, anyway."

"No indeed," the first man spoke again, taking a menacing step forward.  Nara would have retreated, but her back was to the water and she had nowhere to turn.  "In fact, the story we were told informed us that she was very much alive, and should remain that way if we wanted to collect the bounty."

"I th-think there's been a...a mistake," Nara said, fear leaving her breathless as the men closed in around her.  "I don't know what you're talking—"

One of the men grabbed her, then, and Nara tried to scream, only another was already grabbing her by the hair and working on a gag.

The third came up with a dagger against her ribs, and all of Nara's struggles immediately ceased upon feeling the unforgiving blade pressing through her worn clothing.

"And what a bounty it is," the man with the knife said, his yellow teeth revealed in a victorious sneer.  "Thanks to you, we will live like kings."

========================================================

What a mess.  That peasant girl couldn't stay out of trouble if she tried.  And I told you the people on that mountain were worse than anyone supernatural, did I not?  Well, there's more proof.  Be thankful you have airplanes and cars nowadays, and don't have to worry as much about getting accosted by a pack of bounty hunters at sunset.

Of course, I suppose you'd only really have to be concerned about bounty hunters if there was a bounty on your head.  But you'd still have to look out for murderers and thieves, so the point still stands.

I think it's getting more difficult to come up with musical titles. Oh well, I like a challenge. Happy Thursday everyone, and thank you for reading!